User blog:Jpprales/Tips to Surviving as a Tokyo Private School Jet (2018) Part Four: Social
Social How to manage your social life in a new country '' This topic is controversial for me. There are very few ways to give social advice that is universal because balancing your social life is determined by personality and need for social attention. I guess a simple, “Just do you.” Would work, but I would like to make a jab at some good ground rules that I set for myself when I started to addressed social interactions and how they affect myself, my image, my school’s image, and our image as JETs. 'Skills and Hobbies' In my situation with JET, I was the first American representative at my school and regardless of all my flaws and mistakes, many of the students see me as a celebrity, superhero. Added that I also do tons of after school stuff like occasionally join the basketball club, judo club, manly strength training at the gym with my coworkers, run my own YouTube and Twitch gaming channels, and I am becoming quite the chief recently. What I have discovered is ' developing your skillsets allows for better interactions and will increase your ability to help yourself and others. This rule of thumb works internationally and doesn’t depend on your language skills.' Therefore, my words of encouragement are something along the lines of, “Get out there and learn new things!” This will help create common interest for yourself and others around your work and community. 'The ARE and FORM Strategies for Starting and Maintaining Conversations' ' ' After-work events and any other social event in Tokyo, for that regard, will be riddled with small talk. I personally am horrible at small talking and it was on the bucket list since last year’s end of the year party, where I failed to think of anything worth talking about with my coworkers. Being a good small talker isn’t necessarily hard though if you break it down into these two acronyms. ''Also, let’s assume you are speaking with someone in English or your level of Japanese is high enough to relay these kinds of expressions. Don’t force yourself to speak a higher level than you are comfortable with though, just use a combination of your comfortable level of Japanese, English, and body language. You will do great! '' '''ARE stands for ''Anchor, Reveal, and Encourage. ' '''This is a very easy way to begin a conversation with someone during a social event.' First focus on the “Anchor” aspect of ARE by using some relevant topic to mention to your coworker or target listener such as, “The school play was really great today right?” Then after getting some ' '''kind of confirmation proceed to “Reveal” something about yourself such as, “I was in several plays as a child. My personal favorite was Macbeth.” After which, you can “Encourage” the listener to be an active speaker by asking them a question such as, “How about you, did you join any interesting plays when you were younger?” This is the simplest way to start a conversation. Since I started utilizing this, it has become much easier to communicate with people for the first time.' ' '''FORM stands for ''Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Motivation.' These topics are the simplest conversations to have and they usually take the least amount of effort to expand on. While I could explain away at these, I think it is best to let you decide how you will approach and implement each into your expanding conversations. Such small talk is key to learning more and more about your target person(s) and I hope that you will utilize this for your own benefit in the days to come. 'Social Life vs. Work Obligations' ' ' Within one week of reuniting with old study abroad college friends and meeting new ones, I was plagued with this question during each late-night hangout, “Do I stay another hour or do I go home at a decent time and get ready for work tomorrow?” I know for a fact that each of you, in one way or another, will come to this decision and honestly, it comes down to answering this question, “Who is the person(s) whom you are spending this time with and will they be relevant to you for the next five years?” Keep in mind that your job allows for many positive social environments and being an assistant teacher allows for community involvement opportunities as well. '''The big difference here is that work or work-based social interactions may not be as entertaining as a late night get-togethers but they do contribute to money that goes into your bank account and helps prevent the reverse. ' Also in that regard, making new friends is great but, if you have a solid support group at work, that will have a positive result in multiple areas of your new life. This, in turn, creates an environment that is safe and thus increases your ability to work under stressful situations. '''I personally like my staff enough to spend time with the people I work with vs. finding new friends outside of my local station. Imagine the money save! To each their own but keep in mind that your friends will determine who you are in many regards and this also affects how people approach you. Social media amplifies this and it can bring about many different situations that you are totally in control and responsible for. You are free to do what you want in many regards, but people may also not like you for it. '''In a place like Tokyo, image is king. Enough said. ' ' 'Let’s Wrap Things Up' While I have much more than I would like to say, I feel it would be best to conclude my rant today and leave you to think about these ideas. There are many ways to become a stellar JET but I hope that by reading this, you have some kind of direction to start with. I look forward to your feedback and if there is anything else, I can help with please feel free to reach out and let me know. Thanks again for your reads and best of luck to you and your new life! The world is yours, so grab it by the horns! Congratulations on your new positions and welcome to JET!!! Category:Blog posts